Air-release cap for gas-bells of acetylene-generators.



T. OLINGEH. MR RHEAS E CAP FOR GAS BELLS 0F ACETVLENE GENERATORS.

APPLICATION man Him. 23. 1913.

1,283,875.. Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

My man for 771 08 U/Myer fly W /WQ T. OLINGER.

AIR RELEASE CAP FOR GAS BELLS 0F ACETYLENE GENERATOBSL APPLICATION FILEDFEB. 23, l9l8.

1%83 675., Pm'tentedlldv. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Mamas 0/1}? an THOMAS OLINGEB, 01E HOLLAND, MICHIGAN,AS$IGNOR TO HOLLAND LIGHTING dc SPECIALTY 60., 0F HOLLAND, MICHIGAN, ACORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

AIR-RELEASE CA]? FOR GAS-BELLS 0F AGETYLENE-GENERATORS.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

' Patented Nov. 5, 1918..

Application filed February 23, 1918. Serial No. 215,804..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS OLINGER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Holland, in the county of Ottawa and State ofMichigan, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Air-Release Caps for Gas-Bells of Acetylene- Generators; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will en able others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an air release cap particularly adapted forapplication to,

gas containing bells of acetylene generators. It is an object andpurpose of my invention to provide a cap of this construction which maybe entirely removed from the gas bell, so that on installation of thegenerator, or whenever it is recharged the air within the bell may bepermitted to escape, the cap being put in place when the bell is filledsufliciently with gas to drive the air therefrom. A further object ofthe invention resides in the provision of means in the cap constructionfor releasing, at any time, the automatic carbid feed and emergencyvalves, so that a ready operation of the generator may be had if themain supply of carbid has been exhausted and the reserve supply has beenemptied into the main carbid container. Various novel features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts to secure these ends, as well asothers not specifically mentioned at this point, will appear asunderstanding of the invention is had from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the upper part of an acetylenegenerator equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section through the air releaseconstruction comprising my invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the constructlon shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a plan view, on a reduced scale, of the cap plate used in theconstruction.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing the complete cap plate with theoperating devices thereon, and r 1 Fig. 6 is an underplan view, somewhatenlarged, of the movably mounted cam lever member which is operated tocontrol the carbid valve rod or stem. 1

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different views ofthe draw ings.

My invention 'inay be applied to various types of acetylene generators,one of which, as shown in Fig. 1, comprises a tank 1 in thelower part ofwhich, water, as indicated at 2, is held. Above the water an innercylindrical member 3 is located, said member adjacent its lower edgeshaving a horizontal annular flange 4 which extends to and is secured inany suitable manner to the inner sides of the tank 1. Between the member3 and the tank 1, depending sides 5 of a gas bell are adapted to extend,passing into any suitable water seal 6 which is pro vided by fillingwater between the member 3 and the inner sides of the tank, as shown.The carbid container 7 is inserted into the upper end of the cylindricalmember 3, being supported by suitable arms or clips 8 fastened to itssides and hooking onto the upper edges of said cylindrical member 3. Avalve rod or stem 9 is positioned vertically in and extends through thecarbid container, being normally elevated to an upper position by aweighted lever 10 which is pivotally connected thereto at one end asshown. The carbid container at its lower end has an opening for thepassage of carbid, rod 9 extending therethrough and having lower andupper valves 11 and 12 attached thereto, the former of which is theregular carbid feed valve, while the latter is an emergency valve.Normally, when the bell is partially filled with gas sufficient toelevate the same above the upper end of the rod 9, the weighted lever 10lifts the same until the opening in the carbid container is closed bythe lower valve 11. As gas is taken from the hell, it drops until itsengagement with the rod 9 depresses the same, thereby lowering thecarbid control valve 11 to permit the passage of pieces of carbid intothe water for the generation of gas, whereupon the bell is again liftedand the passage of carbid stopped. This principle of automatic operationis well known in acetylene generators and is carried out in variousways.

A reserve supply of carbid is contained within a receptacle having walls13 and a hinged bottom 14, the receptacle being secured in the top ofthe main. carbid container- A handle 15 engages with the bottom 14 andby turning the same, the bottom is freed to drop and permit the reservesupply of carbid to empty into the main carbid receptacle. The handle isturned by the engagement against it of a block 16, fastened on theinnerside of the gas bell, the bell being turned about a vertical axis tobringthe block against the handle. a

In the center of the top 17 of the gas bell, an opening is made and acylindrical neck 18: of sheet metal is fastened to the top sur roundingthe opening and extending a short distance above the top of the bell. Atthe upper edges of the neck 18 an annular ring l9-is secured which isfashioned on its under side with an annular groove 20, best shown inFig. 2. The upper end of the neck 18 is adapted tobe closed by a capplate 21, on the under side of which a downwardly projecting annular rib22 is, made, adapted to come into engagement with any suitable gasket 23seated in the upper part of the ring 19. The plate 21 is formed with twooppositely extending ears 21 through each of which a rod 24 passes, eachformed at its lower end with a hook 25 adapted to extend into the groove20. The upper part of each rod 21 is threaded to receive a wing nut 26,it being evident that on tightening the nuts 26, the rib 22 on plate 21is brought against the gasket 23, this making a firm and gastight coverfor the neck 18, yet one which can be very easily removed on looseningthe wing nuts.

A rod 27 passes loosely through the plate 21 carrying a plunger 28 atits lowerend, and being formed with a head 29 at its upper end above theplate 11 adapted to rest on any suitable gasket 30 interposed betweensaid head 29 and the cap plate 21. A lever 31 formed on its under sideat each end with inclined cam surfaces 32 is pivotally mounted at' 33'on the cap plate, closely'adjacent the head 29, and may be turned sothat the cam surface 32 at "one end passes over the head 29," thesimilar cam'sur'face 32 at the opposite end riding on a suitable rib 34forniedint'egral with and projecting from the plate 21. The turning ofthe lever 31 is accomplished through engagement of the fingers withsuitable wings 35 which'project upwardly from the lever.

'At installation, the carbid' receptacle having been putin place, theplate 2' *zis removed and the gas bell is lowered into! place over thecarbid receptacle,-the' air within the bell passing outwardlythrouglrthe neck 18. Thereis still some airleft "in the bell which maybe forced out by pushing down on the valve rod 9 a few times, the gaswhich is rapidly generated driving out the air, after which plate 21 maybe put in place and the upper end of the neck 18' closed tightly bytightening the thumb nuts 26. The lever 31-is turned to bear upon thehead 29 of rod 27 so that whenever, in use, gas is taken from the bell,causing it to lower, plunger 28 comes into engagement with the upper endof the valve rod 9 to automatically feed more carbid to the water. Thesame operation is gone through with whenever the generator is recharged,it being necessary in recharging to remove the bell and the carbidreceptacle and then replace the same after the receptacle has beenfilled with carbid.

When the carbid from the main receptacle 7 is completely exhausted, thegas has a tendency to flow from the bell as long as possible creating apartial vacuum within the bell. It will be obvious under theseconditions that the bell drops to its lowest po.si tion and theemergency valve 12 is brought to substantially the position shown inFig. 1, completely closing the passage for the carbid to the-Water,whereupon, when. the reserve receptacle is emptied into the mainreceptacle for carbid, no gas can be generated until in some manner therod 9 has been elevated to raise the emergency valve 12. Heretofore ithas been a common practice to lift the bell by hand, but owing to thepartial vacuum within the same, this is not very easily accomplished.\Vith my invention, after the reserve receptacle has been dumped, allthat is necessary is to turn the lever 31 to substantially the positionshown. in Fig. 3, this freeing the rod 27 for upward movement which,together with the rod 9, is elevated by the weighted lever 10 permittingthe passage of some of the reserve carbid to the water and thusproviding a generation of gas to enter the bell. As soon as the belllifts so that rod 27 and the plnnger 28 are freed to drop to theirnormal position, the locking cam lever 31 may be turned'to bear againstthe head 29 of the rod 27, thus effecting a continuation of theautomatic feed action until the reserve carbid supply is exhausted.

A construction as described renders the operation of acetylenegenerators much easier thanheretofore. It is of relatively simple andinexpensive construction. Various changes in minor detail ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the invention,and I, accordingly, do not wish to'be limited to the exact structureshown and described, but consider myself entitled to all modificationsof structure falling within the scope of the appended claim defining theinv nt-ion.

I claim:

1. In an acetylene generator, a carbid container, 'a valve rod extendingabove the same adapted to control the passage of carbid therefrom, meansnormally elevatingthe rod,a gas bell positioned over the'container. saidbell having an opening in its upper side, a detachalble cover znormallyclosing the 1 ,aeaevs opening and positioned directly above the upperend of the valve rod, means carried by said cover adapted to engage withthe,

upper end of the vahe rod on lowering of the bell to depress the rod,substantially as described, and means for freeing said means to permitthe same to elevate when it engages against the valve rod withoutdepressing the same, substantially as described.

2. In an acetylene generator, :1. carbid container, a valve rod movablymounted on and extending above the same adapted to control the passageof carbid therefrom, means normally elevating the rod, a gas bellmo'vably positioned over said container, said bell having an opening inits upper side, a cover plate for said opening, a lever pivotallymounted on the cover, and means movably mounted on the cover adapted toengage with the upper end of the valve rod to tie press the same onlowering of the bell, said means being free to elevate on movement ofthe lever to one position and being held against elevation on movementof the lever to another position, substantially as described.

3. In an acetylene generator, a carbid con tainer, a valve rod movablymounted on and extending above the same, adapted to control the passageof car-bid therefrom, means normally elevating the rod, a gas bellhaving an opening in its upper side movably positioned over thecontainer, a cover for the openin directly over the valve rod, meansmovab y mounted on the cover to engage with the valve rod and depressthe same on lowering of the bell, and means movably mounted on the coverto engage with and hold said first mentioned means from movement when inone position, but freeing said means when in another position,substantially as described.

4-. In an acetylene generator, a gas bell having a top provided with anopening therein, a detachable cover plate for the opening, a rod passingloosely through the plate, a plunger head at the lower end of the rod, ahead on the upper end of the rod, and means movably mounted on saidplate to engage with the head on the upper end of the rod in oneposition of said means, and freeing the rod for movement, in anotherposition thereof, substantially as described.

5. In an acetylene generator, a gas bell having a top provided with anopening therethrough, a neck secured to the top and extendin upwardlytherefrom, a cover plate detachably connected to the neck at its upperend, a rod passing loosely through said plate, the upper end of the rodhaving a head adapted to bear against the plate, a lever pivotallymounted on the plate and adapted to turn over the head of the rod, and aplunger at the lower end of the rod, substantially as described.

6.111 an acetylene generator, a gas bell having a. top provided with anopening therethrough, a neck secured to the top and extending upwardlytherefrom, formed with an annular groove on its under side secured tothe upper end of the neck, a plate adapted to close the upper end of theneck, threaded rods having hooks at their lower ends passing through theplate with the hooks seated in the groove, nuts threaded on the rodsabove the plate, a plunger located in the neck, a plunger rod passingloosely through the plate and having a head at its upper end, and meansmovably 1nounted on the plate to detachably engage with the head of therod, substantially as described.

7. In an acetylene generator, a gas bell having a top provided with anopening therein, a neck secured to the top around said opening andextending upwardly therefrom, a ring having an annular recess on itsunder side secured to the upper end of the neck, a gasket carried by thering around said neck, a plate located above the neck, an annular ribdepending from the plate and adapted to bear against said gasket, aplurality of rods passing through the plate and having hooked lower endsengaging in said groove in the ring, nuts threaded on. to said rods todraw the rib tightly against the gasket, a plunger rod having a plungerat its lower end passing loosely through the plate, a head to therodabove the plate, and means vmovably mounted on the plate to engageagainst the head to hold the plunger in lower position, said means beingmovable to disengage from and free the plunger, substan tially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

THOMAS OLINGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or Eatents,

Washington, a. W l

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